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Apr 2023 - Vol 1, Issue 8
New green industrial age needed China is world’s most prolific perpetrator of transnational repression: Report Beijing, April 6 (IANS) The been committed by 38 governto achieve climate targets: UN Chinese government is the ments in 91 countries since
New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) Amid growing food and energy crises, an uncertain global economic outlook, and the escalating impacts of climate change, the UN has said that a sustainable industrial transformation is needed to close the widening development gap among countries, meet climate targets
and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations says urgent, massive investments are needed to accelerate transformations, including in electricity supply, industry, farming, transportation, and buildings. “Without the means to invest in sustainable development and transform their energy and food systems, developing countries are falling even further behind,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the foreword to the report. “A two-track world of haves and have-nots holds clear continued on pg. 9
Revised settlement agreement reached to compensate First Nations in Canada
Ottawa, April 6 (IANS) A multibillion-dollar revised settlement was reached to compensate those harmed by discriminatory underfunding of the First Nations children and families, the Canadian overnment said. First Nations is a term used to describe Indigenous peoples in Canada who are distinct from Metis or Inuit, reports Xinhua news agency. Following the original settlement agreement, the revised final settlement agreement now includes a total of just over C$23.34 billion,
an increase of C$3.3439 billion, Indigenous Services Canada said in a statement. According to the statement, First Nations across Canada came together to discuss and support the revised settlement agreement, and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN)’s First Nations-inAssembly unanimously approved the draft revised settlement agreement. The proposed revised settlement agreement, designed to fully meet the Canadian Human continued on pg. 15
Multicultural Australia hosts a forum discussion on the Uluru Statement from the heart
I
n solidarity with the issue to include the aboriginal voice in parliament, Multicultural Australia held a discussion forum “Changing the Conversation: Uluru Statement from the Heart” with amazing panelists, Mick Gooda, Shireen Morris, Callum Ah Chee, Elijah Buol OAM- Community Advocate, Allira Davis, and Kym Korbe. The MOSAIC Multicultural
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Choir performed songs reflecting the issue. Community leaders Aparna Kanbur Amrita Deshpande, Ram Mohan, and Giri Sivaraman were present at the forum and also connected and engaged with multicultural communities present at the forum. Multicultural Australia will be organizing more conversations in the coming months. continued on pg. 9
worlds most prolific perpetrator of transnational repression, accounting for 253 incidents, or 30 per cent of all recorded cases of direct, physical transnational repression since 2014, according to a report by Freedom House. More governments are committing more acts of transnational repression around the world, turning to violence and other brutal tactics to silence dissent beyond their borders, said the report. The study finds that 20 governments committed 79 incidents of physical transnational repression in 2022, with Djibouti and Bangladesh emerging as perpetrator states for the first time. The report also finds that at least 854 direct, physical incidents of transnational repression have
2014, including assassinations, abductions, assaults, detentions, and unlawful deportations. The governments of China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia and Egypt ranked as the most prolific perpetrators of transnational repression. “Despite growing awareness of the problem, more authoritarian governments are attempting to exert control over diaspora and exile communities,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “This latest research shows that the threat posed by transnational repression is not going away, and that democratic societies must work harder to protect themselves and their fundamental values.” The government of Turkey has
carried out 132 incidents of transnational repression. Ankara has abducted more people via renditions than any other state in the database, and this practice continued in 2022, with two new kidnappings from Ukraine and Azerbaijan, the report noted. “People who criticise authoritarian regimes, whether they are professional journalists or ordinary citizens, are often singled out for harassment and even violence,” said Yana Gorokhovskaia, the report’s coauthor and Freedom House’s research director for strategy and design.
Macron counts on Xi ‘to bring Russia to senses’ for ending Ukraine war Beijing, April 7 (IANS) Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “to bring Russia to its senses” in an effort to end the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to media reports. Macron arrived in Beijing on Wednesday on his state-visit to China with high expectations for a possible breakthrough on working with the Asian giant to find solutions to end the war, reports CNN. While Ukraine tops the agenda, Macron’s trip also has a strong economic component, with the President being accompanied by a delegation of some 50 business leaders, with some expected to finalise or even sign new deals during the trip. He is also joined by European
Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. Macron and Xi engaged in closed-door talks on Thursday, which officials from the two nations described as being “frank” and “friendly”, the BBC reported. Later in the day, the two Presidents joint addressed the media at the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing. In his opening statement, Macron told Xi: “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses, and bring everyone back to the negotiating table.” He went on to say Russia had “put an end to decades of peace in Europe” and that finding a “lasting peace” that respected internationally recognized
continued on pg. 9
WHO turns 75, calls for health equity Geneva, April 7 (IANS) On the eve of its 75th anniversary, the WHO marked the occasion by calling for a renewed drive for health equity in the face of unprecedented threats. Seventy-five years ago, after years of war, the nations of the world agreed to set up a new organisation and “debated and agreed what this organisation would be and do in a document called the Constitution of the World Health Organisation,” the organisation’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recalled at a press briefing here on Thursday. “Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the day that Constitution came into force. It was, and is, a landmark document,” he said. The past decades have witnessed extraordinary progress in protecting people from diseases and destruction, including smallpox
eradication, reducing the incidence of polio by 99 per cent, saving millions of lives through childhood immunisation, declines in maternal mortality, and improving health and well-being for millions more, Xinhua news agency reported. “And for the past three years, the WHO has coordinated the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic -- the most severe health crisis in a century. We can’t claim sole credit for these achievements, but we have played a leading role in all of them,” Tedros added. Despite the achievements, the WHO Chief said that the world is still faced with many old and new challenges, particularly vast inequities in access to health services, major gaps in defence against health emergencies, and threats from health-harming products and the climate crisis. To meet these challenges, the
WHO urges countries to take urgent action to protect, support and expand the health workforce as a strategic priority. To avert a shortage of 10 million health workers globally by 2030, primarily in low and middle-income countries, the WHO recommends that investments in education, skills and decent jobs for health should be prioritised. It has recently initiated a global education programme on basic continued on pg. 15
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